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I just returned from Boston last week Wednesday for the first time, and here's what I think so far:
First off, I have a girlfriend and her husband and children that are originally from there and moved to Atlanta some years ago, and that is where we became close friends. Last year, my girlfriend got excepted to U Mass for Law School. I have not seen them since they left Atlanta, and kept promising to come and visit, so I finally did. They recently moved about 45 minutes out of the city to a beach community called Marshfield? (I think that's right).
The two MAIN things I'd heard about Boston before going were: 1) That it's still quite racist after all these years. 2) There's a fierce love of the Red Sox presence, and don't you dare reveal you're a Yankees fan! Well, good for me, I find baseball boring and uninteresting. However, I am a fair-skinned African American girl with big curly hair, so I was a little worried. Not only that, my girlfriend is white with mixed children as her husband is from the West Indies, so there was that.
I arrived on Wednesday morning about 10:45am and straight away I was hungry. We needed to drop my bags at her house, pick up some essentials I didn't have time to get before I left, so we decided to grab a bite in Marshfield then head to the beach later. First thing Thursday we would head into NYC. Having curly hair, I had made an appointment in Manhattan at a place that only cuts curly hair called Devachan. It's famous in the curly hair community, and I had gone to two other stylist at home that basically butchered me. So, that drive into NYC would basically be our whole day on Thursday.
We stopped at this deli she loves, and that's the first time I learned what "hots" were. YUM!! I had never had pastrami before, so this was my suggestion. The sandwich was really good, and then she took me to some Danish ice cream place. DANISH ICE CREAM??! I never knew that existed! Anyway, after eating and the beach, we turned in for the night; tomorrow would be a long day.
On Friday, we headed to Harvard for a tour, and I loved Cambridge immediately. The Harvard campus was beautiful, and I knew in theory how historic Boston was, but seeing the architecture of all the buildings was just fascinating. As I walked on the crowded streets, I heard people speaking in every language, and from so many different countries I literally could not keep up; it was so refreshing and worldly. I took some pictures, and then we popped into 'COOP' because I wanted a Harvard sweatshirt to take home; $55 dollars later, plus $3 for a Boston magnet, we were off to the North End for pizza!
We hopped on the T back to the city, then walked what seemed like forever to get to this place my girlfriend adored called "Regina's Pizzeria." She warned me to bring good walking shoes, but I wasn't as ready as I thought I'd be for the amount of walking we were doing! I kept saying, "Are we even there YET??!" (In the South, we drive EVERYWHERE!) She told me it was either this, or we would have had to change trains twice. I think I preferred the changing of trains. We stopped at an outdoor farmer's market called "Haymarket" and grabbed a few goodies. It was lively and busy, and people were haggling down prices. We eventually get to the North End restaurant area, and I stopped immediately to take pictures. I was in awe. Was this real? The streets and the buildings in this neighborhood looked like something out of a movie; like, circa 1940's Italy! Wow. It was bustling and noisy with people coming and going from pastry shops and restaurants, while those in cars could barely go 15 miles an hour in the street due to the crowd.
We turned a corner to FINALLY reach Regina's, only to meet a line out the door. I paused. I was starving, and thought FOR SURE I would die before we made it inside with this line of people who obviously were of the same opinion as my girlfriend about the greatness of this place. She saw my face and said, "We can go somewhere else if you want." I said "WHAT?! No way. Every place is crowded around here, and we've come all this way from Cambridge. I WILL TASTE THIS DAMN PIZZA TONIGHT!!" She chuckled, and said "Whelp, we better get in line then." I found a stoop to sit on in line as my flats were rubbing my feet in some ungodly place.
FYI: I had not at this point experienced even ONE DROP of racism. We did get a few stares here and there, as I think people were trying to figure out if her caramel colored children belonged to her, or me.
Anyway, some middle aged gentleman comes outside surveying the line; he looks at us and goes, "What? Ya got foor in ya pah-dee?" We said yes, and he assured us he had a table for 4 opening up soon. We finally made it inside, and I saw right away why it took so long; it wasn't much bigger than my apartment! We squeezed our way to a back booth and took a load off. *whew* I had never been so happy to sit down. A very friendly waitress came over and took our order and soon we had what was the best smelling pizza ever. We ordered the Margherita and the Greek. After two bites, I was for sure in heaven. I had never had pizza so good! We had leftovers, and packed it to take home, then headed out. You got the sense no one was hanging around once they ate considering the wait outside.
I told her for dessert I needed tiramisu and cannoli. I had only had cannoli in NYC's little Italy, and wasn't so impressed. She said we could do Mike's Pastry or a bakery called Modern. I chose Modern. She said people mostly go to Mike's for nostalgia, but it's not what it used to be. I grabbed my goodies at Modern, and she decided it would be nice to take the Ferry back to Marshfield, so we did. It was lovely, but chilly out on deck. I watched Boston fade into the distance while sampling my cannoli as we sped away, and the children next to me were giggling with delight. I decided cannoli was just not my thing; the ricotta filling is barely sweet, and whatever it was stuffed into wasn't so sweet either. I just didn't feel like I was having a dessert, but more like something for breakfast. Oh well.
On Saturday, we hung around the house, rested, and later that night got some movies and chilled. We dashed out for a minute to Pink Berry, because I'd never been there, and had heard it was all the rage in soft serve frozen yogurt. It was good, but I found the yogurt choices more limited than I had expected, although the toppings were plentiful. It definitely tasted like CULTURED YOGURT.
On Sunday, we took the car and drove into the city; I wanted to see Jamaica Plains and Somerville. I liked both, but Somerville seemed a bit more polished, aesthetically pleasing, and gentrified to me. Jamaica Plains was down to earth, diverse, and a mix between hippy/working class with a few elite. We grab a bite at a place in JP called 'Grass Fed' that was supposed to have awesome, fresh burgers. It was bar style seating with huge windows all around to look out onto the street. JP was a bit more gritty in parts than Somerville, but I appreciated both.
Now off to the Back Bay. My girlfriend wanted to take me to some consignment shops called 'Second Time Around' I had never heard of. Once in the Back Bay, it took us FORTY MINUTES to find parking!! It wasn't as bad as Thursday in NYC though; we ended up in a parking garage there that cost $17 and hour! Everything's so expensive around here! Finally, we find street parking; my friend tells me to wait a sec, and she hops out to look at arrows and signs to make sure we don't get towed. I'm like, who would tow us in the Back Bay on a Sunday?? Anywho, the Back Bay was BY FAR my favorite place. Talk about gorgeous architecture! I. loved. it, and wished I could afford an apartment there. But with it being adjacent to Beacon Hill, I knew there was no way. Everything seemed so pristine. There were people everywhere, but in a good way. We shopped, and shopped, stopped for coffee, and shopped some more. Somehow we ended up back in Cambridge at Shake Shack for a bite, but either way, it was delicious. We drove back towards the Back Bay, and somebody was having a concert on the water, I don't know who, but there was crowd. I took pics of Berklee School of Music, were I had wanted to take online songwriting classes the year before. We went inside a gorgeous church open to the public, and took more pictures. After some more site seeing, it was dusk, and we prepared to head back to Marshfield.
Monday would be another rest day for me. My girlfriend started law classes back at U Mass that day, and would be gone until around 4pm. I slept in late and eventually got up to wash a few things and pack; I had a 9am flight the next morning and wanted everything ready to go.
My initial impression was this: First, Boson is quite segregated. People work together, go to school together, show up at some of the same events together, but not everybody lives together. Everybody kinda has their own neighborhood, and that's that. But I have to say, in each neighborhood, people stick together; there's this quiet unity in Boston neighborhoods that I noticed, and appreciated. It's like, "we're all in this together" sort of attitude. Granted, as a visitor, I can't give a real estimate of the racial climate. I'm sure living, working and school present different experiences and dynamics I would never know about. If anyone didn't like the looks of me, I was none the wiser, because I never had any obscenities yelled out at me or anything.
Secondly, the FOOOOOOOD!!! Yum. Yum. Yum. I appreciate the Northeast in general and it's authenticity when it comes to food; that's something we're missing in the South. I could stay in Boston for a year, and just eat my way around the city!
Third, people are real. We're friendly and hospitable here in the South, be sometimes that translates to not being so genuine; it's not "polite." Bostonians say it like they mean it. I love this, as I am a straight shooter myself. I ended up talking to this lady on the street in the city, and she was going on and on about her life, children, work, what she was happy about, and what she wasn't, with some profanity thrown in for good measure. Then she just turned to me and went, "So, how's it going with you? How you doing? Everything good in your world?" I just smiled and said, "Well, I guess I can't complain." She acted like she had known me for years!! By the way, the potty mouth seems to be a thing in Boston. People don't even have to be mad, they just curse in regular conversation. Hilarious.
Fourth, even though Boston is a full on city, I didn't find it overwhelming to navigate. In New York, I just simply couldn't breath. The buildings are so close together, like, EVERYWHERE! I felt like everything was closing in on me. Boston is smaller, and people seem a LITTLE less alienated from each other. I can't explain it.
Lastly, I felt like the week went too quickly, and I didn't even have time to crack the surface of what Boston has to offer. Save the brutal winters and extremely high cost of living, I would consider making it my home. Anyway, I've already made plans to return next summer!!!
THANKS BOSTON FOR SUCH AN AWESOME VACATION!!
Last edited by No2Monsanto; 08-26-2014 at 04:41 PM..
So glad you enjoyed our city! I think you came at a good time as our summers are so short (a mere 2-1/2 to at most 3 months and not even that much if you consider 3 straight days of 90 degrees+ as an official heat wave as we do). The image that Boston is racist is definitely long past as it has become a very diverse city in the past two decades. Next time, try to come in the Fall to feel some cool crisp air and see some beautiful New England foliage or in Spring when the flowers are in full bloom. I guarantee the place will look even nicer.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Nice read, you're only issue is you decided to drive around the city, look for parking, pay for parking, etc. I'd never do that myself. Waste of time and money, and too much stress. Ditch the car!
Wonderful post! For someone hoping to move there next summer, it made me even more eager. I had the same experience with people being exceptionally friendly and genuine despite everyone on here saying otherwise. Maybe it's just a tourist point of view or just a direct conflict of the South's view of people up North.
And I agree with timberline742 about going carless. One thing the South stinks at where the North rocks is public transportation. I got around just fine in Boston on the T.
Boston gets a bad rap from people that only talk about the negatives of the city like the rude people and the cost of living. First the people are not that rude just reserved. The cost of living in high but you are on the East Coast so you have to expect that. Boston is the best place to go to college in the Nation. I had a blast living in Boston so much to do. it's a great Irish pub as well and eating out town. Boston literally has every restaurant in the world of any taste and not that many chains.
Its amazing to me that Boston still has the stereotype of being a racist city. I agree with the OP that its not as well integrated as some cities in the south. On the other hand, compared to many midwestern cities, its come a long way since the Boston Busing Crisis.
Nowadays the most racial/ethnic tension you're likely to witness is if somebody wears orange to the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
So glad you enjoyed our city! I think you came at a good time as our summers are so short (a mere 2-1/2 to at most 3 months and not even that much if you consider 3 straight days of 90 degrees+ as an official heat wave as we do). The image that Boston is racist is definitely long past as it has become a very diverse city in the past two decades. Next time, try to come in the Fall to feel some cool crisp air and see some beautiful New England foliage or in Spring when the flowers are in full bloom. I guarantee the place will look even nicer.
Yes, I was aware of the short summers there. Here in the South, we experience warm weather well into October before we have to wear a jacket or coat for the full day. I had already told my girlfriend I wanted to come back in fall; then she said, "Well, come back in the winter, then you'll know if you could ever really live here!" LOL. Yeah, like I said, I didn't experience any racism; not to say it's not there, but my expectations were different in that regard. I even asked my girlfriend's husband, who's a graphic designer looking for full time work, but has been working the temp agency circuit if he experienced racism as he goes from one company to another. He said not really, even if sometimes he's the only black guy in the office, (which is often). So, yeah...
Boston gets a bad rap from people that only talk about the negatives of the city like the rude people and the cost of living. First the people are not that rude just reserved. The cost of living in high but you are on the East Coast so you have to expect that. Boston is the best place to go to college in the Nation. I had a blast living in Boston so much to do. it's a great Irish pub as well and eating out town. Boston literally has every restaurant in the world of any taste and not that many chains.
Yes! The Mom and Pop places just have the best food. The South is plagued with chains, and it drives me nuts!
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